The “Greenest Show on Grass” is also the “Loudest Outdoor Party where enthusiasts avoid watching golf. “
Officially, it’s the Waste Management Phoenix Open and it’s back this week, albeit in a decidedly dimmed way.
It remains the busiest PGA Tour occasion of the season, regularly there are about 200,000 enthusiasts passing through tourniquets just for Saturday’s third round, the busiest day of the party, um, the tournament. Crowds sometimes rise far beyond another 700,000 people worldwide. Week.
But the global thing is what it used to be and that goes to the Phoenix Open.
“It may not look like anything,” Jon Rahm said before the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego last week. Rahm remains a public favorite at TPC Scottsdale because he went to neighboring Arizona state.
“Compared to how the tournament is going normally, I think I feel like there’s no one there,” Xander Schauffele said to the Farmers.
Spectators have been rare since the Tour resumed last summer. The Vivint Houston Open in November had about 2,000 enthusiasts per day on site. The Mayakoba Golf Classic in Mexico also received enthusiasts. There are expected to be around 5,000 enthusiasts a day at the Phoenix Open. , the tournament’s director, Scott Jenkins, said they were not committing to an express number.
“Last week in Abu Dhabi, there were some enthusiasts. It wasn’t 5000 but there were about a hundred and he felt smart,” Rory McIlroy said at Torrey Pines last Wednesday, days after betting on the European Tour in Abu Dhabi. HSBC Championship. ” I felt smart to make a smart shot and get a round of applause and get a reaction. I look forward to welcoming the back enthusiasts. “
Most of the Phoenix Open’s VIP suites and grandstands have not been erected this year, however, an edition of the 16th “Colisée” hollow has been built once the craziest par 3 in golf was re-included. Usually big enough to house as many enthusiasts as an NBA stadium. , will be home to less this year.
“Normally, our 16th hollow is made up of 3 floors and is home to another 16,000 people. This year is a story, but how many other people we’re going to have there, but obviously much smaller,” Jenkins said.
According to COVID protocols, all enthusiasts will have their temperature controlled at the entrance. The mask will be mandatory and the policy will be enforced, Jenkins said. The rest spaces will be spaced. ” It’s a 192-acre golf course,” he says. “We think it’s very conducive to social estinement. “
So whether 5000 enthusiasts are allowed every day or something close, we’ll have to do it this time.
“We’re artists, so when you get back from the crowd, it’s much better,” Rahm said. “You will miss the same atmosphere as always in Phoenix. It’s an exclusive occasion, it’s a very fun occasion and everyone will miss it, but 5000 is more than anything. “
After Phoenix, the tour returns to California for AT
“It’s going to be gradual, I don’t think anything is at full capacity or 100 percent for a while, but the fact that Phoenix will have 5000, maybe the occasions in Florida will have a little more,” McIlroy said. Gradually welcoming others as the vaccine is implemented and we retreat to return to a more general world, I think it’s a smart thing. “
As for the Phoenix Open’s bird’s nest, the busy concert hall that is the after-golf party is closed this year. Expect it to return in all its glory in 2022.
This year’s Phoenix Open will become a quaint occasion with all the golf.
Imagine that.
Todd Kelly is the deputy editor of Golfweek and golfweek. today. com, a component of TODAY.